Barn finds are great, but this garage find on ClassicCars.com is exceptional

What could be the lowest-mileage 1970 Plymouth Road Runner in existence was recently found by a collector in an Ohio garage.

Eric VanDamia, avid collector of all things Mopar, was browsing ClassicCars.com a few weeks ago when he came across a listing for the ’70 Road Runner 440cid Six Pack with a four-speed manual transmission. The listing contained photos of a couple quarter panels and indicated just 5,000 miles were on the car’s odometer.

VanDamia was wary.

“I’ve chased a lot of cars and it usually doesn’t end well,” he said.

The Road Runner looked to be in relatively good condition when it rolled out of the garage for the first time in more than four decades.

But he called the person selling the car, just to be sure. She told VanDamia the car had been owned by her uncle since new and it was the final remaining piece of his estate.

“Apparently, [the uncle] worked for Premier Organization, which made interior plastic parts for the Big 3 in the 1970s,” VanDamia said. “I don’t know how he got the car. I don’t know if it was given to him. She really didn’t know. She said, ‘One day, a gentleman showed up and gave him the car’.”

The seller recalled getting ice cream in the car with her uncle several times. For some reason, in 1974, he chained the car in the garage, installed a dealer alarm, drained the water and never drove it again.

“I don’t know if it scared the life out of him or something happened,” VanDamia said.

The tires (including the spare) still have the grease pencil writing on them from workers at the factory.

After he heard the story, VanDamia immediately planned to make the trip from his home in Pennsylvania to Cleveland to see the car, even resheduling a few of his dental patients to see the car.

“Cancel the three root canals I have tomorrow morning,” he recalled telling his staff. “They said, ‘You can’t do that.’ I said, ‘Yes, I can.’

“I’d never done anything like that before.”

VanDamia inspected the car — he said the exterior was covered in raccoon feces — but found the numbers to be matching and suspected the mileage was accurate because of the relative cleanliness of the engine bay. All the tires, including the spare, retained their grease pencil makings, indicating they had been filled at the factory.

The Road Runner sat in a garage for 44 years

He and the seller struck a deal and the Road Runner was VanDamia’s. But that’s not where the story ends.

A few weeks after purchasing the car, he took it to the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show in Illinois, where it was inspected by top Mopar experts, including Dave Wise.

“They said, ‘This is truly, certifiably one of the lowest-production 1970 Mopars that we’ve ever seen for mileage’,” VanDamia said of the judges’ reactions. “It was the lowest Six Pack Road Runner they had ever seen.”

Let the judging begin

The car scored an eight of 10 possible points and was determined to be all-original after about 14 hours of examinations.

“The three judges think that this car is quite possibly the lowest-mile 440 Six Pack Road Runner on the planet right now,” VanDamia wrote in an email. “They have not seen one this original ever.”

The judges found some quirks with the vehicle. It had a factory-installed 1969 lower control arm and the stripe on the left side of the front of the vehicle was installed backward. The motor was built on October 31, 1969, but it wasn’t installed until eight months later.

The engine paint tag found inside the engine bay even got the experts excited.

“This was just kind of put together from Chrysler, one of the latest ones they ran for the ’70 model year because it was built in May of ’70,” VanDamia said.

One of the coolest discoveries on the car was an index card used during the factory paint process. Typically, these were removed before the cars were shipped but this one — complete with the orange paint — was found pinched in the motor mount.

“We were excited,” VanDamia said. “I’ve seen a ton of original Mopars and a bunch of cool cars, but nobody has ever seen one of these.”

The car still runs. VanDamia had the fuel tank resealed and replaced the spark plugs — he brought the originals to the MCACN judging — but he said it fired right up, just as it did when it was chained up in 1974.

VanDamia had to pull the original spark plugs (pictured) to get the car to start. He kept them to show the judges.

VanDamia said he buys about four or five cars a year for his collection. But the ’70 Road Runner will be the one he talks about for years to come.

There is talk of him transporting it to a couple of local car shows, but VanDamia said he wouldn’t be opposed to taking it on the national show circuit should the car be invited.

VanDamia said the car has an estimated sale value of at least $175,000, but he plans to keep it in his garage for the time being.

It’s called not putting miles on it. If you’re so dead set on driving one of these cars then go get one with on normal amount of miles on it and drive that one. It would be the same thing without putting any miles a 5000 mile example. This guy knows what he’s doing can you don’t. I think he’s very smart.

simon eldridge

Norman Spirit

December 20, 2018, 5:23 PM

Hilarious to see people "chasing" a car most didn’t want in its day. As us oldsters know, the "Road Runner" was the ultra-low-cost alternative to the Plymouth line for those who obviously couldn’t afford a "real" GTX or Satellite. Everybody knew "who you were" when you showed up with one of these cheapies. Plymouth had a second agenda here: you COULD option it to anywhere you wanted, which meant you had everything available but didn’t need to pay more than $3300 to start.

There is a fellow that lives about a mile from me that I went to school with. He is my age which is 67 . His Dad passed away in the mid 70’s .Before he died he and his son bought two roadrunners both of them were 1970. When he died his son parked them in the garage . and they haven’t seen the light of day since. What a shame ,. that was 43 years ago those cars are probably locked up tighter than a bulls behind.

For a car that nobody wanted they certainly sold quite a bit of them. They were also a purpose built car. They were made to sell cheap not made cheap. They were no frills to keep cost and weight down. I owned a 1969 road runner heater and radio delete, pop out rear windows, steel wheels with poverty caps, 383 super commando with a four speed This car was built and bought for one reason. Street racing. The man who was the original owner was a very wealthy man who could of bought whatever he wanted. He did he loved the concept and the car. I now own a 1968 Plymouth sport fury convertible 440 super commando. The original owner said he special ordered the sport fury because he wanted the 440 but did not care for the Gtx. Who knows The Gtx is a great car. I guess people just have preferences and different taste. The road runner ordered with a hemi compared to a Gtx with the same option the only difference is more chrome, some woodgrain ,and fancier interior. mechanically and structurally same car. In 70 the road runners had 440 available in six pack and super commando the same as the GTx and the road runners were available with more amenities and able to be much fancier. They are both great cars. I don’t believe anyone ever shunned or ran away from either

Um, no. people ‘knew who you were’ alright , you were either very cool and ‘got’ the whole thing, or you wanted to go fast. The RoadRunner was lighter [as well as cheaper] than the GTX or the satellite, which in 70 was a cruiser, not a bruiser. Thats why Plymouth sold so many and they command such ridiculously high prices today.

Roy Blankenship

December 20, 2018, 9:52 PM

What a find! And here is proof that the stripe on these comes out of the center of the side scoop. I have seen restorations where it is off center, even
on Graveyard Cars, who thinks he is the god of all mopar facts. I am just
happy it was found and being preserved…..

Per the tires or other rubber rotting, they don’t if kept out of sunlight. About 15 years ago I bought a 1952 Ford F5 from a wharehouse near Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The truck had 3434 miles and it’s original tires. It sat buired under tarps and just "stuff" for decades. We replaced the front but the rears are still on it. I think we put about 15K on using at farmers markets.